UPS fires workers over protest

UPS has fired 20 workers in Queens, N.Y., and has notified 230 additional area employees of pending termination for walking off the job to protest due to the firing of a colleague, according to Teamsters Local 804.
It all started when UPS fired Jairo Reyes, a union activist, in February, spurring the two-hour employee walkout, union members wrote on the Teamsters for a Democratic Union website.
Teamsters Local 804 said it is currently working with UPS management to get a fair settlement for the terminated workers.
“We will do whatever is necessary to achieve this goal,” leaders wrote on the Local 804 website. “Now, more than ever, is the time to be united and disciplined. The company fired a group of drivers to try to divide us, create panic, or try to get Local 804 to cave in and sell out. That is not going to happen. Management may hope that we do something rash so they can bring the hammer down even harder. We are not going to give them that excuse.”
A petition on MoveOn.org has generated more than 45,000 signatures in support of the workers.